Conflict Erupts (Part One)

He had lost count of how many three-pointers he had made. His shooting from beyond the arc was hardly elite, but with Chi Tong feeding him the ball today, he felt unstoppable. Take enough shots and some were bound to go in. Besides, every pass from Chi Tong came at exactly the right speed and angle. The ball settled into his hands without a jolt, so comfortably that he felt as though every shot he took would fall.

Beyond the three-point line, Koshino—Hong Ming—launched another shot. The ball spun gently through the air toward Toyotama High's basket. A crisp swish rang out as it dropped cleanly through the net.

Half of the first half had passed. The arena should have been roaring with cheers, but an eerie silence had fallen over it. Every gaze turned toward the electronic scoreboard hanging above center court.

Its bright red numbers held everyone's attention: Ryonan 34, Wind Domain 0!

The score left the entire arena speechless.

Wind Domain hadn't scored a single point!

A team making its first appearance at the National Tournament had held a perennial top-eight team to nothing.

Even the players from other schools in the stands looked as though they could hardly believe what they were seeing.

They had thought Ryonan might have beaten Hainan through sheer luck. This score shattered that notion.

Ryonan was far more formidable than they had imagined.

It overturned everything they thought they knew.

Ryonan was so strong it hardly seemed real.

In the stands, Kiyota Nobunaga stared at the 34–0 on the scoreboard, his brow furrowed in confusion. He turned to Mu Shenyi. "A Mu, is Wind Domain really a top-eight team at the National Tournament?"

"Why do they seem weaker than the prefectural teams we faced?"

The other Hainan players fell silent.

The